Training and education needs

Basic training of transfusion staff and indeed just having the raw resource is becoming problematic, so:

How many people are using the UKTLC recommendations for baseline training and education for transfusion staff?

Any hints or tips on how you achieved this (apart from dogged determination), or even a list of barriers would be something to work on. If you don't use the recommendations, what do you use (luck? intuition?)?

Hi Stephen,
Capacity planning is the way forward and UKTLC will soon be issuing some guidance. However, this does require labs to have following information:
- Recording all deviations/ incidents / events- not just the serious ones. Try not to create a “blame culture” while doing this. This mainly system problem, not staff to begin with.
- Look at your MHRA inspection report, if you have had one ( or a few!!) and see what you can extract for the capacity plan. It is generally very helpful and cross-references any deviation against the regulations.
- Identify the gaps within your overall structure ; ie what is missing to achieve timely training, QMS, equipment management.
-Evidence from your weekly rotas that Senior BMS/ BBM are performing routine bench work- which is not cost effective.
- Assess staffing needs across blood sciences if your staff rotate to other areas. Aim to backfill your seniors from routine testing and be able to properly carry out their roles by using lower grades.
- The BBM and senior should not participate on shift working and this will build lab resilience and prevent overload, stress, high sickness.
- Review your skill mix-employ dedicated MLA staff and in time can become trainers for some of the tasks the trainees will need to learn and reducing the burden on the senior team.
- Build in time for all staff to be released to attend courses. Knowledge is key to future proofing our labs and maintaining patient safety.
- Use the trust risk register. This is the route for identifying concerns and should be fully visible to the BBM/ Seniors. This is about openness and communicating concerns at the right level and assigning responsibilities.

The main barrier is changing culture. Some staff will resist, but as they say on Star Trek ….

It would be really useful for us all on this forum to share thoughts on how we are coping with the TLC standards and staffing challenges . We can't help to improve things unless we establish good communication and share ideas on what does and doesn't work.

UKTLC standards

Hi Rasmi,
The UKTLC minum standard for staffing a Transfusion lab 2014; has it that staff who work in the BT lab unsupervised must spend a minimum of 10 days a year in the BT lab during the routine day, has there been any amendments to this or is this still the current standard? I have seen no chnge as at 2016, but not clear on what is said last year.
Regards
Bobby

Hi Bobby
The only Standards that exist are the 2014 ones- prior to this date these were recommendations. The TLC group is meeting in a few weeks to agree on any changes, and these will be cascaded to the transfusion community in July. The process of updating and ratifying changes with the collaborative organisations, as you can appreciate, can take a while.

However, it is very unlikely there will be changes to the following :3.10 In order to maintain their skills, it is expected that all members of staff currently in post who work unsupervised in a blood transfusion laboratory at any time, but who are not permanently established in blood transfusion will complete at least 10 working days per annum of supervised working in a hospital blood transfusion laboratory.

Thanks for posting on the forum Bob, please keep discussing things here, we all learn a bit more this way. BTW- did the message about the 2018 Blood Compliance Report- now being available cascade throughout the TADG groups? ( see section Regulatory Inspections, where there is info & link).